Listening to your own voice
I have a memory of making a cassette recording of my granny, on one of our summer visits to Ayr in the 1960s, reciting a poem by Robert Burns. Burns was born and brought up in Alloway, just down the road, and Granny had a natural feel for his language and his verse, and she […]
Tories go to Hell
After a week of poisonous anarchy among our Tory rulers it seems apt to give space to a cartoon in Welsh, issued in Llanrwst as a woodcut print in around 1834-36 (according to Peter Lord). The artist is James Cope. Almost nothing is known about him, except that he was born in Caernarfonshire in 1805 […]
In Bruges, with Gerard David and friends
There are many good reasons for going to Brugge (why do we say Bruges, when it’s a mainly Flemish-speaking city?): the townscape and amazingly preserved buildings, the canals and windmills, the beer and chocolates, the football and the multilingualism. But for me a visit was a chance to renew my long friendship with Gerard David. […]
Ar enwau lleoedd
Y profiad a adawodd yr argraff fwya arna i yn ystod yr wythnos ddiwethaf oedd gwylio ffilm fer, fel rhan o raglen deledu Wales Live, oedd yn dangos y digrifwr Tudur Owen yn cerdded ar draws bae ar Ynys Môn – fel mae’n digwydd, bae yr ymwelais i ag e’n ddiweddar iawn. Nid y cerdded […]
To Soweto by way of the Plough & Harrow
Of all the Great Causes we pursued back in our days of hope in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was only one that came to an unambiguously good end: the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. Wales was blessed with one of the most active Anti-Apartheid Movement organisations anywhere, and the cause united […]
The sore feet of Ursula Martin
When I first heard about what Ursula Martin had done I found it hard to believe. Over a period of seventeen months she set out to walk 3,300 miles around Wales – in the end she walked 3,700 – including all the recognized long distance paths and other, river-long walks, she devised herself. Now she’s […]
Wales Coast Path, day 86: Newborough to Brynsiencyn
It’s our last day, and a chance to fill a missing link, between Newborough and Brynsiencyn, the furthest point west we managed last year. We leave the car in the Llyn Rhos Ddu car park south of Newborough. In its centre is a metal sculpture by Ann Catrin Evans of several ‘gafrod’ or bunches of […]
Wales Coast Path, day 81: Trearddur Bay to Four Mile Bridge
After Holy Island north, today three of us are tackling Holy Island south – a much shorter and less strenuous trek. It’s a cooler and cloudier day. We start from Trearddur Bay. Just as it took half an hour to get into Trearddur from the north, it takes half an hour to leave it walking […]
Wales Coast Path, day 80: Valley to Trearddur Bay
Just the two of us today. Valley to Trearddur Bay direct is no more than three miles. Valley to Trearddur Bay via Holyhead Mountain, taking in a circuit of the northern half of Holy Island, is sixteen miles, and that’s our route. We’re lucky to have a day of continuous sun, from start to finish. […]
Wales Coast Path, day 85: Malltraeth from Newborough
In Sgwâr Bodorgan in the centre of Aberffraw we’re waiting for Gwynfor. After twenty minutes we’re still waiting. We’re on the point of giving up and taking two cars when a bus turns up – the original vehicle had broken down – and we’re bowling along the road south. Today we have a second guest, […]